Lions of the Emperor and Tharanatoi Hammerblow: The Custodes Pairing That Fails Twice

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What to build instead

If you want Lions of the Emperor, you are building a 3 DP solo army and that is the whole decision. Nothing can be added to it. Lean into the spacing: put Praesidius (25 pts) on a Shield-Captain so a model standing alone gains Lone Operative and Stealth, spend Unleash the Lions in your first Command phase to multiply your qualifying units, and treat the 6 inch bubble as a movement-phase checklist rather than a preference.

If you want Tharanatoi Hammerblow, it pairs with all four 2-DP anchors and with both other 1-DP detachments. Three are worth calling out:

[Auric Champions](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/auric-champions) (2 DP) + Tharanatoi Hammerblow (1 DP). The closest legal thing to what the illegal pairing promised. Auric Champions is the other Character detachment: name a target at the start of your Command phase, ingress an Allarus block with a Character attached onto it, re-roll the charge, and swing with +1 to Wound on the Character models. The rule's one-turn commitment stops being a cost when your delivery lands in the same turn you declared.
[Null Maiden Vigil](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/null-maiden-vigil) (2 DP) + Tharanatoi Hammerblow (1 DP). A Battle-shocked unit cannot use stratagems, so it cannot use a reactive stratagem to survive being charged. Creeping Dread suppresses in your opponent's Command phase, then you land on a target with no answer available.
[Shield Host](/40k/armies/adeptus-custodes/detachments/shield-host) (2 DP) + Tharanatoi Hammerblow (1 DP). The safe version. Martial Mastery improves your Terminators' melee on exactly the turn they charge.

The faction has one other blocked pairing that works the same way: Solar Spearhead and Might of the Moritoi share the ARMOURY tag, and Solar Spearhead literally contains the whole of Might of the Moritoi's rule. Read that page too, because the two traps teach the same lesson. In an Adeptus Custodes army, when two detachments look designed for each other, check the Unique Tag first.

Common questions

Can I take Lions of the Emperor with Tharanatoi Hammerblow?

No, and it fails twice. Both detachments carry the LIONS Unique Tag, recorded on both by the Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 and Wahapedia and stated inside the Tharanatoi Hammerblow rule text in the pack, and no two detachments in your army may share a tag. Separately, Lions of the Emperor costs 3 DP in the current Munitorum Field Manual, which is the whole Strike Force budget, so nothing could be added to it anyway.

Wahapedia says Lions of the Emperor is 2 DP. Which is right?

The official Munitorum Field Manual v1.3 says 3 DP, prints an increase marker beside that value, and flags the detachment as updated with a changed force disposition. Wahapedia still shows 2 DP because the mirror is a revision behind and has not picked up the increase. We follow the official document. It does not change this pairing's legality either way, because the shared LIONS tag blocks it at either price, but it does change whether Lions of the Emperor can take any partner at all.

Why do both detachments have the same stratagem?

Both print a 1CP stratagem called Unleash the Lions with the same target, one Allarus Custodians or Aquilon Custodians unit on the battlefield, and the same effect, splitting it into separate single-model units. They use it for different purposes: in Lions of the Emperor it is a rule engine, because more units means more of them can satisfy the no-friendly-unit-within-6-inches condition, while in Tharanatoi Hammerblow it is a way to spread a blob into scoring pieces after it arrives. Sharing a stratagem is the signal that they are alternatives, which is what the shared Unique Tag enforces.

What is the closest legal version of this list?

Auric Champions at 2 DP plus Tharanatoi Hammerblow at 1 DP. Auric Champions is the other Adeptus Custodes character detachment, it carries no Unique Tag, and its Assemblage of Might rule gives Character units +1 to the Wound roll against a target you name at the start of your Command phase. Name the unit, ingress an Allarus block with a Character attached onto it, re-roll the charge with The Hammer Falls, and the buff and the delivery arrive on the same target in the same turn.